"Thanks for all the fish..."

The Armchair Curmudgeon
News&Views
May 18, 2007

Fishing for Answers

Do we need proof that our selfish and inconsiderate ways are catching up with us.

Several years ago, in my own state, I posted the dangers of heavy elements entering into our waterways.

From where one might ask? The answer is too simple: The burning of fossil fuels to make electricity.

We connected the two.
And were not reluctant to tell people about it.

The result: Nothing; that is until recently.

Now, because we need more power and energy, we have to look to more coal or alternative sources like wind power.

The group I belong to, CBS, promoted an agenda of clean air.

We got authorities and specialists to come out.

And we built a pretty solid base.

People even started changing their minds about their air and water.

That maybe it even made sense to cut back on the burning of coal.

Well, while we still ponder that decision—there is a growing body of support for the idea including the man I believe will be the next governor,
One of the reports came in.

It was not a big report. Not a report with lots of attachments and imposing language.

In fact, it kind of slipped in under the radar.

It said “Don’t eat the fish.”

Why not, we pondered.

And then we read a little further.

It talked about stuff like heavy metals that have contaminated most of the fish in this area.
The article went as far as to say that all of the fish in the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake areas should not be eaten more than once a week.

That’s the key: not more than once a week. That way, said eater can extend his existence by perhaps a factor of ten one would presume.

For years, I have been on my soap box telling smug and otherwise disinterested voters, that sooner or later we are going to kill the golden goose that brought people here in the first place.

We need go no further for examples than the salient fact that fish may now be injurious to your health.

In accepting that notion, I have only one thing to say: “There goes Fridays!”

Would it be pushy to ask just precisely what does it take to bring sanity to the affairs of people.

Certainly more than our government can conjure up if we cannot even agree on the basics of survival. .

When Douglas Adams talked about the whales and leaving our Galaxy,
He thanked us for all the fish!

Maybe we were not so generous after all!....

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon